Family History in England and Wales

Domestic Records Information 11

RG 13/1958, 1901 Census Enumeration Report

Contents

1. Starting Out
2. Is Anyone Else Researching Your Family?
3. Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths From 1 July 1837
4. Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths Before 1837
5. Parish Registers and other Church of England Registers
6. Nonconformist Registers
7. Censuses of Population, 1841-1911
8. Wills from 1858
9. Wills before 1858
10. Death Duty Registers
11. Other Sources in The National Archives
12. Useful Information, Addresses and websites
13. The National Archives' Library Bibliography

1. Starting Out

Family history demands a step by step approach, working back in time. Begin by finding out what your family already knows. Who is your earliest known relative? Do you have the date and place of that person's birth, marriage or death?

Draw up a family tree showing the known people in your family, their dates, and how they relate to each other, starting with yourself at the bottom. Then you can see where there are gaps.

2. Is Anyone Else Researching Your Family?

Genealogical Research Directory: national and international, ed K A Johnson and M R Sainty (Sydney, 2007) contains similar information about world-wide ancestral researches, and includes a section on one-name studies. This indicates collectors of every reference to particular surnames.

The Guild of One-Name Studies, Box G, Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA (guild@one-name.org), regularly publishes its Register of One Name Studies. This is also available online at www.one-name.org .

3. Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths From 1 July 1837

Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began in England and Wales on 1 July 1837. Copies of the register entries are kept by the General Register Office and have been indexed. The indexes are organised alphabetically for each year in quarterly volumes to 1983, thereafter annually. Microfiche copies of the indexes are available at The National Archives and in many local libraries and record offices. Microfilm copies of the indexes can be searched at Family History Centres of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (to find the nearest one to you, contact the British Isles Family History Service Centre, 185 Penns Lane, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham B76 1JU: 0121 384 2028, or visit www.familysearch.org).

Copy of General Register Office Birth Certificate, 1872

Although you can look at the indexes for free, you will have to purchase certified copies of the actual entries in the registers. You can buy copies online from the Direct Gov website, by email or by post if you have the reference from the index. Postal applications should be sent to the General Register Office, PO Box 2, Southport, Merseyside PR8 2JD (Telephone 0845 603 7788, or for international callers: +44 151 471 4200; fax 01704 55 00 13); emails certificate.services@ips.gsi.gov.uk . Don't buy the short certificate: it does not give the names of parents. If you already know in which district an event took place, you can buy the certificate direct from the relevant local register office. You can find their addresses in R Blatchford, The Family and Local History Handbook(11th edn, York, 2008)

Tips: try the indexes of birth, marriage and death registrations in England and Wales between 1837 and 1920 at www.freebmd.org.uk. This database is not yet complete and more entries are being added all the time. Look at the progress charts at this site for more information. You can download, for a fee, copies of the indexes, 1837-2005, at www.findmypast.com. There are also a number of other commercial sites online that have copies of the GRO index, which you can search for a fee.

Try the International Genealogical Index (IGI) at www.familysearch.org for details of marriages extracted from parish and vital records. This will save you time searching the GRO indexes, and you can then go straight to these to find the GRO reference so that you can buy a certificate containing all the information you need. The International Genealogical Indexis not complete and no living people are included in it, so the entries are likely to end over a hundred years ago. You could also try the British Isles Vital Records Index, on CD-ROM, at The National Archives, and many other libraries and record offices, and in Family History Centres of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).

4. Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths Before 1837

The Genealogical Society of Utah has compiled an International Genealogical Index, drawing on parish, chapel and vital records of births, baptisms and marriages throughout the world. The latest edition is accessible at www.familysearch.org, which is regularly updated. You can inspect the 1993 edition with later addenda up to 2000 on CD-ROM in many local libraries, record offices and Family History Centres. You can search the 1992 edition on microfiche at The National Archives and many libraries, record offices and Family History Centres.

The International Genealogical Indexcan be searched for individual births or baptisms, the recorded children of a specific marriage, or for a particular wedding entry, by region or country. References in the International Genealogical Indexto events in England and Wales before 1837 will usually be to parish registers (kept locally) or to non-parochial (usually non-conformist) registers, kept at The National Archives. Many parish registers have been filmed and copies of these and of non-conformist registers in the National Archives can also be viewed in Family History Centres. Search the Family History Library Catalog at www.familysearch.org for information about these microfilms and their whereabouts.

Whilst since 1992 the International Genealogical Indexhas included a mixture of entries extracted from official sources worldwide and compiled family records deposited with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the 12.3 million names in British Isles Vital Records Index (BIVRI), issued in 2002, have been taken solely from vital records between 1538 and 1906. It covers England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Isle of Man. Each entry contains a reference to a microfilm copy of the original source, which can then be searched in a Family History Centre. At present the British Isles Vital Records Indexis available only on CD-ROM, at The National Archives, and many Family History Centres, local libraries and record offices.

Tip: neither the International Genealogical Indexnor British Isles Vital Records Index is fully comprehensive. They do not contain everything that was written in a record about a particular person, so use them as a finding aid and then search the original source.

Burials are not normally included in the above indexes, but in 2001 the Federation of Family History Societies published a National Burial Indexon CD-ROM, containing more than 13.1 million names of people buried over 4,300 churchyards and cemeteries in England and Wales between 1538 and 2000. Each entry includes the forename(s) and surname, date of burial, age (where given), the parish or cemetery where the event was recorded, and the family history group or society that transcribed the record. It does not include tombstone transcriptions. You can search this at The National Archives as one of the online databases, and elsewhere on CD-ROM. At present coverage does not extend to every county, and the start and end dates vary from place to place, though it is particularly good for the period between 1813 and 1837. You can find out which places and periods are covered by visiting the National Burial Index page.

5. Parish Registers and other Church of England registers Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths Before 1837

Since 1538 clergy of the Church of England and in Wales have kept registers of church baptisms, marriages and burials. The local record office will be able to advise on their present whereabouts. The addresses of offices are included in J Gibson and P Peskett, Record Offices: how to find them(9th edn, Bury, 2002). You can also find details on Archon (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon). The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, ed C Humphery-Smith (3rd edn, Chichester, 2003), lists parishes before 1832 county by county, the whereabouts of the registers, and if there are copies. The National Archives does not hold any parish registers. The National Index of Parish Registers series,published by the Society of Genealogists is the comprehensive location listing for surviving registers and copies. The Society of Genealogists holds copies of most published registers and transcriptions.

Church of England Non-Parochial registers (those not attached to a parish church) from the Greenwich Royal Hospital and Schools, Chelsea Royal Hospital, the Foundling Hospital and the Holborn Lying-in hospital, are in series RG 4 and RG 8 . There are some UK and overseas garrison church and chapel registers in series WO 156 , and some other registers in WO 68 for militia units and WO 69 for artillery.

Registers of clandestine (secret) or irregular Church of England marriages conducted in and around London during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, before being made illegal under Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act after 25 March 1754, are in RG 7 . These ‘Fleet Registers’ as they are known can be examined on microfilm at The National Archives and are also available to search by nameon BMDRegisters. Access is free onsite at The National Archives. Some of them have been indexed in the IGI and there are a few printed indexes. They also contain a small number of baptisms. Filmed copies of them can be inspected at LDS Family History Centres. You may have to pay a small fee to hire them.

6. Nonconformist Registers

Nonconformists did not conform to the established Church of England. They were usually Protestants (Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Independents, Quakers, etc) or Roman Catholics. It is not always easy to identify a Nonconformist family as they had to marry in an Anglican church under Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act 1753 until Civil Registration began in 1837. Only Quakers and Jews were exempted from the Act and allowed to keep their own records. If you find no baptisms or burials for a family in the parish registers this may be an indication of nonconformity. Sometimes they switched denominations, so it may be necessary to search the registers of all churches and chapels in the area.

A number of non-parochial registers of chapels and congregations outside the Church of England were deposited with the Registrar General in 1837, with a smaller number of additional registers in 1858. Microfilm copies of these and other non-parochial records, spanning the period 1567-1970, can be seen on microfilm at the National Archives, in RG 4 and RG 8, and in LDS Family History Centres. These are available to search on BMDRegisters. Many county record offices have filmed copies of registers local to them. Very few registers extend beyond 1837, and they are predominantly those of Protestant dissenters, though some north-country Roman Catholic records, and registers of Foreign Protestant congregations in England are included. Foreign Protestant registers can be found in RG 4 and in RG 8 . Some Russian Orthodox Church registers can also be found in RG 8 .

Not all registers were handed in, some, and later registers after 1837 and 1858 will have been deposited in county record offices. The location of many of these registers can be found by consulting the appropriate volume in the National Index of Parish Registers series, published by the Society of Genealogists. This is the comprehensive location listing for surviving registers and register copies for all denominations. Locations of registers for particular denominations are also listed in the ‘My ancestor was…’ series, also published by the Society of Genealogists. The International Genealogical Index contains most of the baptism and marriage entries from registers in RG 4 . The local record office or denominational headquarters should be able to advise on the whereabouts of other dissenters' records. Surviving Roman Catholic registers from 1700 to 1880 are listed in the 6 volumes of Catholic Missions and Registers 1700-1880.

If you are having no luck with chapel registers, try the birth registrations in the General Register of Births of Children of Protestant Dissenters' (sometimes called Dr Williams's Registry). This was set up in 1742 in Dr William’s Library in London for Baptists, Independents (Congregationalists) and Presbyterians. Nearly 50,000 births were recorded before the Register was closed in 1837. A similar Metropolitan Registry was established for Wesleyan Methodists in 1818, which closed in 1838. The records of both are indexed, contain births which occurred before the official start dates, and names of people born countrywide or overseas. The registers, running up to 1837, are in RG 4, and 80% of the entries in Dr Williams's Registry are embedded in the British Isles Vital Records Index. You can search the filmed duplicate certificates lodged with this Registry at The National Archives, in RG 5 . They are available to search on BMDRegisters. Copies of all of these films can be searched in LDS Family History Centres, where you may have to pay a small fee to hire them.

Microfilm copies of records of births, marriages, deaths and burials of members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) are held at The National Archives, in RG 6 , including some for the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. These are searchable on BMDRegisters, access is free onsite at The National Archives. County digests of the entries, arranged by initial index, can be searched on microfilm for a fee at the Religious Society of Friends Library, Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ (020 7663 1135, email library@quaker.org.uk website www.quaker.org.uk/library. The Library is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10.00am until 5.00pm, You will need to book a seat in advance. You can also search these records on microfilm in LDS Family History Centres, where a small hiring fee may be charged.

7. Censuses of Population, 1841-1911

The returns of the ten-yearly census contain:

Additional information provided on the 1911 census includes the questioning of married women as to their 'fertility in marriage' - how long they had been married, the number of children from the current marriage, the number of those children still alive and the number who had died. Occupational data is also more detailed than before and, as all returns were completed by the householders themselves, it is possible to see a respondent's handwriting.

Images and transcripts of the 1841-1911 censuses together with name indexes are available online at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/census. There is a fee to download copies of the returns but if you are in the reading rooms of The National Archives the returns for 1841-1911 are free to download. The returns for 1841 to 1891 are operated in partnership with MyFamily Inc. at www.ancestry.co.uk , the 1901 census with Genes Reunited and the 1911 census with FindMyPast.

You can search a complete name index and transcripts of households recorded in the 1881 census returns online at www.familysearch.org . They are also available in Family History Centres, and many local libraries and record offices. The indexes are also offered on county microfiche and as a national surname index at The National Archives and elsewhere.

The surviving returns for 1841-1891 for England and Wales, including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, can be searched on microfilm at The National Archives; the 1901 census is available on microfiche at The National Archives. The 1911 census is only available online.

Microfilm copies of 1841 to 1901 returns are also widely available in local record offices and libraries, and at Family History Centres. Census Returns 1841-1891 on microform: a directory to local holdings in Great Britain; Channel Islands; Isle of Man, by J Gibson and E Hampson (6th edn, Bury, 1997), lists the whereabouts of many local copies. The 1841 and 1851 returns are in series HO 107 , 1861 in RG 9 , 1871 in RG 10 , 1881 in RG 11 , 1891 in RG 12 , and 1901 in RG 13 . 1911 is available in RG 14 and RG 78.

You can find other personal name indexes in J Gibson and E Hampson, Marriage and Census Indexes for Family Historians(8th edn, Bury, 2000). A large number of them are available at Family History Centres, and in relevant local libraries and record offices. Otherwise, as the returns are arranged topographically, it is important to have an address near to a census year. The larger towns and cities have mostly been street indexed, making it easy to find the folio and page on which a specific address can be found.

8. Wills from 1858

Copies of all wills and administrations proved after 12 January 1858 can be inspected for a fee in the Probate Search Room, The Probate Service, Principal Registry of the Family Division, First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NP (Telephone 0207 947 6000), and in local District Probate Registries. The Principal Registry search room is open from 10.00am to 4.30pm on weekdays, whereas the District Registries are open between 9.30am and 4.00pm. For details about local registries visit www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/registries.htm or consult R Blatchford, The Family and Local History Handbook(11th edn, York, 2008). Provided the date of death is known, photocopies of registered wills can be ordered by post for a fee from The Court Service, York Probate Sub-Registry, First Floor, Castle Chambers, Clifford Street, York YO1 7RG (Telephone 01904 666777). Microfiche copies of the indexes to wills and administrations, 1858-1943, are held at The National Archives, and in local libraries, record offices and Family History Centres. The indexes reveal dates and places of death, as well as the date of probate or administration grant, the names and addresses of executor(s) or administrator(s).

See also the Research Guide Wills and Death Duty Records, After 1858.

9. Wills before 1858

Before 1858 wills were proved in a variety of church and other courts. The location of a person's personal property, and its overall value, determined which court was appropriate. The two chief courts were the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC), mainly concerned with personal estates of people roughly south of the Midlands, and those dying abroad leaving property in this country), and the Prerogative Court of York (PCY), with jurisdiction over the northern counties. The records of this court, 1388-1858, are held at Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, England (Telephone 01904 321166; www.york.ac.uk/borthwick). Published indexes, 1389-1688, are available at The National Archives. From 1653-60 the Prerogative Court of Canterbury was the only functioning probate body.

Wills and administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1384-1858, are held at The National Archives, in PROB 11 and PROB 6 , They can be also be searched on microfilm in Family History Centres. There are printed indexes of wills up to 1800, 1851 and 1853-58, of administration grants, 1559-1660, 1701-1800 , 1851 and 1853-58, whilst the remainder can be located via annual initial indexes.

All PCC wills from PROB 1 and PROB 11 are also available to access on the internet via (DocumentsOnline), The National Archives' digital image delivery website. They have been indexed and are searchable by name, place, occupation and date. A fee is payable to download the images but access is free when onsite at The National Archives. Administrations are available on microfilm. Other probate material from this court (original wills, inventories of goods and chattels, and litigation papers) is held at The National Archives.

See also the Research Guides Wills before 1858: Where to Start and Probate Records for further information.

Look in The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, ed C Humphery-Smith (3rd edn, Chichester, 2003) to see which probate courts served the area where your ancestors lived. The whereabouts and dates covered by surviving records of these courts can be discovered from Probate Jurisdictions: Where to Look for Wills, by J Gibson and E Churchill (5th edn, Bury, 2002). Copies of many of the printed indexes to these are available at The National Archives, local libraries and Family History Centres. Some indexes and images of locally proved wills are also available online; use a search engine to find out such coverage for your county of interest.

10. Death Duty Registers

If you are uncertain in which court a particular will was proved you may be able to locate it in the annual indexes to death duty registers, 1796-1903. Microfilm copies of the indexes to 1903 and registers up to 1857 are held at The National Archives, in IR 27 and IR 26. The later registers (1858-1903) are originals and available at The National Archives. The registers complement wills and administration grants, because they were kept open by the Inland Revenue for many years until the final distribution of the estate. Each numbered entry gives the deceased's address, occupation and date of death, as well as probate details. Information about beneficiaries on whose legacies duty was payable include their names, relationship to the deceased, subsequent marriages, migration overseas, and deaths, how much they were to receive, the conditions of each gift, when and what duty was paid. Not every will or administration is mentioned, certainly in the early years, because duty was only payable on legacies over a certain value, but nonetheless it forms a unique centralised list embracing every probate court in England and Wales. Between 1796 and 1811, each probate court was indexed separately and are collectively known as the 'Country Courts'. The death duty registers for the Country Courts (which excludes the Prerogative Court of Canterbury) are available online at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline.You can also search copies of the filmed indexes to 1903 and registers to 1857 in Family History Centres. You may have to pay a small fee to hire them.

See also the Research Guide Death Duty Records from 1796 for further information.

11. Other Sources in The National Archives

The National Archives contains a wealth of information for family historians. Many of the records of most genealogical value are described in A Bevan, Tracing Your Ancestors in The National Archives (7th edn, Kew, 2006), Dictionary of genealogical sources in the Public Record Office, by S Colwell (London, 1992), and in The National Archives' Research Guides. You are well advised to read these before embarking on research, because they tell you which The National Archives record series to look for, what periods the records cover, and highlight the sources most likely to be of help to you. All the research guides are available online at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/researchguidesindex.asp.

12. Useful Information, Addresses and websites, including those for Vital Records of the UK, Ireland and Isle of Man

The Federation of Family History Societies, POBox 8857, Lutterworth, LE17 9BJ (email info@ffhs.org.uk, website www.ffhs.org.uk)

Individual Family History Societies The contact details for member societies of the Federation of Family History Societies can be found at www.ffhs.org.uk/members2/contacting.php. A more general, area sorted, list of societies (not restricted to Federation members) is available at www.genuki.org.uk/big/Societies.

Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA (Telephone 020 7251 8799, email info@sog.org.uk, website www.sog.org.uk). Membership is by annual subscription, but non-members can use its library on payment of a fee.

London Family History Centre, 64-68 Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2PA (Telephone 020 7589 8561 email UK_London@LDSMail.net, website www.londonfhc.org ).

This is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and microform copies of many civil registration indexes, census returns and parish registers can be searched here free of charge.

Other (LDS) Family History Centres worldwide. Visit www.familysearch.org for information about opening hours and contact details.

National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales SY23 3BU (Telephone 01970 632 800, email holi@llgc.org.uk, website www.llgc.org.uk). This is the main centre for family history research in Wales, where you can inspect filmed copies of Welsh census returns, parish registers, nonconformist registers and probate records.

General Register Office for Scotland, New Register House, 3 West Register Street, Edinburgh EH1 3YT (Telephone 0131 334 0380, website www.gro-scotland.gov.uk).

The Registrar General holds records of civil registration of births, deaths and marriages from 1 January 1855 onwards, divorces, adoptions, decennial Scottish census returns, 1841-1901, and birth, baptism, marriage and burial registers of the Church of Scotland from about 1553 to 1854. Full information can be obtained by sending a completed application form and fee to the above address.

You can search online indexes to registered births and deathsup to 2006, and marriages to 1933, at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and then pay to view images of the births up to 1908, marriages up to 1933 and death records up to 1958. You can also search the indexes to the Church of Scotland (Old Parish Registers) births, baptisms and marriages, deaths and burials between 1553 and 1854; Indexes and pay to view images for the 1841-1901 Scottish census returns can be found on the same website; an index and transcription of the 1881 census is available. You can order transcriptions of the births, baptisms and marriages in the Old Parish Registers between 1700 and 1854, the registered births, marriages and deaths between 1855 and 1990, and of the 1861 and 1871 census returns by visiting www.scotsorigins.com which offers a charged service.

Filmed copies of the birth, marriage and death civil registration indexes between 1855 and 1956, and of the registers between 1855 and 1875, 1881 and 1891, can be searched in Family History Centres, as well as microfilms of the 1841-91 census returns for Scotland; a small fee may be payable to hire them in.

Try also the International Genealogical Index, and British Isles Vital Records Index.

National Archives of Scotland, HM General Register House, Princes Street, Edinburgh EH1 3YY (Telephone 0131 535 1314, email enquiries@nas.gov.uk , website www.nas.gov.uk). A wide range of public records is held here, including wills and testaments from the 16th century to the present day You can search indexes to Scottish wills and testaments between 1513 and 1901 at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and then purchase a copy of the digital image. Filmed copies of the indexes and testaments can be searched at Family History Centres, where a small fee may be payable to hire them in.

General Register Office(Northern Ireland), Oxford House, 49-55 Chichester Street, Belfast BT1 4HL (Telephone 02890 252000, email GRO_NISRA@dfpni.gov.uk website www.groni.gov.uk).

The Registrar General holds copies of the statutory registers of births and deaths since 1 January 1864, and marriages on and after 1 January 1922. You can search indexes to these, to non-Catholic marriages from 1 April 1845 and to all marriages from 1 January 1864 at this address, though the marriage registers to 1921 are kept in District Registrars’ offices. Extracts of birth registrations from 1845 until 1875, and non-Catholic marriages between 1 April 1845 and 1863 are included in the International Genealogical Index. Filmed copies of the indexes and registers from 1922 to 1959 can be searched at Family History Centres. A small fee may be charged to hire them in. For earlier filmed copies of indexes and registers see under the General Register Office, Dublin, below.

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), 66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY (Telephone 02890 255905, email proni@dcalni.gov.uk , website www.proni.gov.uk).

Most of the Irish census returns before 1901 were destroyed. You can search the 1901 census records of the Northern Irish counties, surviving fragments of the ten-yearly returns between 1821and 1851, census substitutes, church and other denominational registers of births, baptisms, marriages and burials, and wills proved in Northern Ireland from 1900 to 1994. There are annual indexes to wills covering 1858 to 1984. Although all original wills prior to 1900 were destroyed, filmed office copies entered in local registry will books are available. Indexes to Irish wills, 1484-1858, can be searched on CDROM at Family History Centres and elsewhere. The 1901 and 1911 census returns can be searched on microfilm at Family History Centres, where a small fee may be payable to hire them in. The census is now being made available online at www.census.nationalarchives.ie.

General Register Office (Ireland), General Register Office (Ireland), Government Offices, Convent Road, Roscommon telephone +353 (0) 90 6632900, website www.groireland.ie.

The Registrar General holds surviving indexed records of non-Roman Catholic marriages for the whole of Ireland from 1 April 1845 and of births, all marriages and deaths from 1 January 1864 up to 1921, and thereafter for the Republic of Ireland only. Copies of the indexes to 1958, birth registers for all Ireland up to the March quarter of 1881, 1900-13, and 1930-March quarter 1955, marriage registers from 1845 to 1870, and death registers 1864-70, can be inspected at Family History Centres.

National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8 (Telephone 003531 407 2300, email mail@nationalarchives.ie, website www.nationalarchives.ie).

Holdings include the Irish census returns of 1901 and 1911, some transcripts for earlier years, whose returns were destroyed in 1922, some Church of Ireland parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials to 1871, indexes to wills proved in church courts up to 1858, original wills lodged in the Principal Registry in Dublin since 1904 and in most District Registries after 1900, and registered copies of most wills proved in District Registries since 1858. Microfilm copies of the 1901 and 1911 census returns can be searched at Family History Centres, and a small fee may be payable to hire them in. They are in the process of being digitised; at present the 1911 returns for the counties of Antrim, Cork, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kings and Wexford are available online. Microfilm copies of most Roman Catholic registers up to at least 1880 can be searched at the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 (Telephone 003531 603 02 00, website www.nli.ie). The Irish Family History Foundation is the co-ordinating body of a network of genealogical research centres, one serving every county. Visit www.irish-roots.ie for details.

For Ireland, also read our Research Guide on Irish Genealogy.

The Greffe, Royal Court House, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 2PB (Telephone 01481 725277). Registers of births and deaths from 1840 and of marriages since 1919 are held here, with copies of wills. Although Alderney and Sark kept their own records, enquiries should first be made here. You can also search microfilm copies of the birth indexes and registers, 1840-1966, death indexes and registers, 1840-1963, and marriage indexes 1841-1966, and registers 1841-1901, at Family History Centres, where you may have to pay a small fee to hire them in.

Judicial Greffe (Jersey), 10 Royal Square, St Helier, Jersey JE2 4WA (Telephone 01534 502335). Registers of births, deaths and marriages date from 1 August 1842. There is an online index to Jersey wills at http://jerseyheritagetrust.jeron.je/. You can search microfilm copies of the indexes and wills in Family History Centres; you may have to pay a small fee to hire these.

Isle of Man, The Douglas Civil Registry Office, Deemsters Walk, Bucks Road, Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 3AR (Telephone 01624 687039, email civil@registry.gov.uk, website www.gov.im/registries/general/civilregistry/welcome.xml .

The registrar holds the statutory registers of marriages from 1883 onwards, and of births and deaths from 1878, plus earlier Anglican registers of baptism, marriage and burial. You can search microfilm copies of these from 1821 to 1964 at Family History Centres. You may have a pay a small fee to hire them in. Extracts of the births, baptisms and marriages are included in the British Isles Vital Records Index.

Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections email apac-enquiries@bl.uk, website www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indiaofficerecords/indiaofficehub.html ).

You will need a readers ticket to inspect the birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial records, and registered wills, spanning the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. Also the records of the East India Company, its armies, and the Indian army and government in India before 1947. The India Office Records biographical index, containing 300,000 entries, is now available online, free of charge, at http://indiafamily.bl.uk/UI/ .

13. The National Archives' Library Bibliography

There are many published guides to family history research. You can borrow them from your library or buy them from a local book shop. The National Archives has recently published general guides. Because new family history handbooks and personal name indexes are constantly being produced, try to find the most up to date publications on how to start, where and what to look at.

The following recommended publications are available in The National Archives' Library. Where indicated a publication is also available to buy at The National Archives' Bookshop.

13.1 General

13.2 Births, Marriages and Deaths

13.3 Censuses of Population, 1841-1911

13.4 Wills

(ri2118) Last updated: 15 July 2009 | © Crown Copyright 2006